Clinton: U.s. Readies Assistance To Pakistan

Up To $110 Million Would Aid Refugees Fleeing The Fighting

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the United States might provide as much as $110 million to help Pakistanis who had been displaced by their government's attacks on militants in northwestern tribal areas.

Clinton, speaking at the White House, said U.S. relief officials already were on the ground in the Swat Valley evaluating the needs of the nearly 1.5 million people who have been driven from their homes since the Pakistani government's offensive began this month.

"Providing this assistance is not only the right thing to do, but we believe it is essential to global security and the security of the United States," she said. "And we are prepared to do more as the situation demands."

The announcement appeared to reflect, in part, the Obama administration's concern that the Pakistani offensive not create a humanitarian catastrophe that might turn ordinary Pakistanis against the counterinsurgency effort.

Pakistani forces have been using heavy artillery and aircraft to batter the militants, but the fighting also has sent columns of civilians fleeing the valley and prompted criticism that the government's tactics are heavy-handed.

U.S. officials urged the Pakistani government to begin the offensive after hundreds of Taliban fighters stormed through the Swat Valley, a beautiful mountainous area where many better-off Pakistanis spend their summers. The Taliban's offensive left the militants within 60 miles of the capital, Islamabad, and brought warnings that the government could be imperiled.

Clinton said aid workers were providing items such as tents, food, power generators and radios. The U.S. military is providing some water trucks, she said.

For its part, Pakistan also was seeking to help the refugees. The United Nations said the exodus could rival the displacement caused by the Rwanda genocide of the 1990s.

Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmad, who leads a group tasked with dealing with the uprooted Pakistanis, said the government had enough flour and other food for the displaced but said it needed donations of fans and high-energy biscuits. He also said the refugees would get money and free transport when it was safe to return.

A "camp is not a replacement for home," Ahmad told reporters, adding that there are at least 22 relief camps operating.